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Flaring Sky
Not everything is as it seems The dark sides of cats are there, although we may not always see them Even me... I have my dark side too. I leap without thinking.. I learned that the day I left the living. But, there's always a story behind the story. I'm here to tell it. Chapter 1 Up to the time that Nightstar began his reign. I was just a little apprentice With a friend in a snowy she-cat. "Wake up!" a voice mewed in a high pitched voice. The tom muttered something, and rolled so he wasn't facing the she-cat trying to wake him up. "Come on Flarepaw! You know Nightstar put you on the morning patrol!" The she-cat pushed him out of his nest, and he gasped, "Oof!" Flarepaw looked at Willowpaw, who looked annoyed. "What?" he asked innocently. "You know what! You're late for morning patrol!" Willowpaw hissed at him, and she stalked out. Flarepaw rubbed his head with his paw, and he yawned, Great... Morning patrol... he thought angrily, and he stood up. Flarepaw padded out of the den, the sunlight streaming into the camp lit it up, even though it was usually dark and cold in the Shadowclan camp. "Ah! Flarepaw!" Nightstar looked up from speaking quickly to Clawfur, who's eyes were narrowed in thought, "We're going to do some battle training." he stood up, and walked toward Flarepaw, and he nodded, and flicked his tail for Flarepaw to follow him. Flarepaw followed him, he looked around the pine forest, and they finally stopped in the training hollow. "I understand you're becoming a warrior?" Nightstar asked, turning to him. Flarepaw nodded, "Of course! I don't want to be stuck in the medicine cat den, it's so boring just sorting through herbs!" he mewed. Nightstar's eyes flashed. "Flarepaw.. Being a warrior doesn't always mean that you fight with your muscle. A medicine cat that sorts herbs, is actually a better fighter then the most experienced warriors." he mewed. Flarepaw looked at him, "What!? Medicine cats never fight!" he mewed. "Oh yes they do.. You never fought with Sunpaw yet have you?" Nightstar asked. "Of course not, he's training to be a medcine cat, to collect herbs and heal wounded cats, nothing more." Flarepaw mewed. "That's where your wrong, you've never seen Sunpaw fight, I have, you are ignorant to Sunpaw just because he chose a different path." Nightstar growled. Flarepaw growled, "I probably can pin him down in a couple seconds!" Nightstar sneered, "Do you want to test that theory?" Flarepaw flicked his tail, "Yes.. I do." he mewed. "Good, wait here." Nightstar hissed, padding away. Flarepaw sat down, moving his paw around, practicing battle stances, lashing his claws out at an unknown enemy. "Too bad it won't do you any good." Nightstar mewed, he had arrived with Sunpaw, who's almost blind eyes were flat, and Flarepaw resisted the urge to laugh. Nightstar nodded to Sunpaw, "When you are ready young apprentice." he mewed, flicking his tail. Sunpaw nodded, and padded towards Flarepaw, who sneered, "Now this is sad.. Medicine cat apprentice and half blind?" Sunpaw made no reaction, so Flarepaw jumped, but what happened totally caught him off guard. Sunpaw rolled under him, grabbing his haunch and slamming him onto the ground. Flarepaw got up, and ran to Sunpaw, Sunpaw flicked her ear, and she narrowed her eyes, and she leaped, Flarepaw leaped also, but Sunpaw rolled in mid-air, pinning Flarepaw down with ease. Sunpaw put her paw on his neck sideways, her eyes were narrowed. Nightstar mewed, "Now you see Flarepaw? You leap before you think, that is what is wrong with warriors these days, they refuse to think... And listen, usually, the medicine cats are the best fighters in the clan, even I couldn't beat Sunpaw." Sunpaw backed off of Flarepaw, she nodded to Nightstar, and walked away. "Now you see? Fighting isn't always about tooth and claws, it's about precision, thinking, and listening to the movement of your attacker, but you, like all other young warriors think that fighting is just tooth and claws." Nightstar mewed. Flarepaw hissed, "Then teach me how! Like you're supposed to!" Nightstar padded up to him, and looked at him. "Okay.. Lesson one, you must be heavy on your paws when your attacker is bigger then you, they will think that you're going to dodge, and you will have the advantage." he mewed. Flarepaw mewed, "But I thought I had to stay light on my toes?" "Oh you do, but staying in stance and keeping your razor sharp reflexes is crucial in any battle, especially when you're using them both," Nightstar mewed, then he mewed, "It's like the moon and sun, they are different, but together.. They are a force well beyond our comprehension." Flarepaw looked up at the sky, the sun was setting, and the moon was slowly starting to rise. He felt someone prod his back, and he lowered, "Getting ready to face an attacker well beyond your training experience leads to an easy battle, with you losing, but with the right stradegy, you can beat even the best of fighters." Nightstar mewed. Flarepaw nodded, and Nighstar mewed, "Sometimes though, standing your ground, when this happens, you must become one with the nature that surrounds us, it will guide you, the shadows will hide you, giving you the element of surprise, not many cats can use this, some cats are born this way, able to use their surroundings to their advantage." Nightstar jumped into the shadows, and Flarepaw looked around. "When you are in the shadows, even if you are a light pelted cat, you will be cloaked, you will be hidden, and even a light pelted cat like you can take an attacker by surprise." Nightstar mewed from where he was hiding. Nightstar mewed, "But.. When your attacker uses it, you've got to listen closely, for the shadows will hide you, but they will not muffle you." Nightstar leaped, and pinned down Flarepaw, who gasped in surprise. Flarepaw wriggled and writhed, trying to get out of Nightstar's grip. Nightstar leaped off him, and he mewed, "I think that's it, you can go back to camp, or you can hunt, we need food." he padded away, flicking his tail. "I'll hunt!" Flarepaw called after him. Nightstar didn't answer as he disappeared through the bush, and Flarepaw jumped up and down, and bounded away. Flarepaw scented a bird, and he sniffed the air, and narrowed his eyes, padding quickly and quietly. When he saw it, he froze, eyes widening. He finally leaped. But he groaned when he smashed his head into a furry thing, and it grunted. The two cats landed on their faces, they looked at the each-other, while the bird was still in shock. The cat was a beautiful snowy white, and her green eyes were blazing with annoyance. They both looked at the bird as it started to fly away, and they started chasing after it, as it headed toward a tree, Flarepaw was ready to leap into the tree. But he felt soft paws jump on his head, he looked up to see the she-cat jumping after the bird. "Hey!" He called, trying to regain his balance, but he could only watch as she leaped toward the bird, and catch it in her mouth and land with perfect balance on the branch. She mewed, "Better luck next time apprentice!" she laughed, and leaped down, jumping on him as an added measure, and running off. "H-Hey!" he called, chasing after her. She looked back, a look of confusion flashing across her face as he bowled into her, and he soon pinned her, looking down upon her. "Better luck next time rogue." he hissed, grabbing the prey, and he started to pad away from her. He heard her move, but instead of leaping on him, she as€ked, "How's your clan doing for prey?" He stopped and turned, and was surprised the playfulness had left her gaze, and instead, was replaced by grim and angry eyes. "What do you mean?" he asked, confused on what she meant. She sneered a bit, "You know what exactly what I mean." "Fine, we have lots of prey, why?" he narrowed his eyes curiously. She glared at him, a grimace on her face, "You clan cats disgust me sometimes, you have enough prey, what about the cats out there that are starving? If you have alot of prey! Why are you taking more then your share?" she yowled at him. Flarepaw jumped, "Um? Because it's our territory?" he asked, kind of confused, dropping the bird. "What an excuse." she mewed, rolling her eyes. Flarepaw snapped at her, "You rogues are all the same, thinking your all great, and thinking that all this prey belongs to you." He glared at her, expecting her to snap back, but instead she laughed, "Really? I've heard that one before, all from ignorant clan cats, who wouldn't know the cold-hearted even if they spit in ther face." Flarepaw opened his mouth, but could find nothing to say, he was surprised that the small she-cat could snap back so easily, after all, she looked like she hadn't eaten in days, as her ribs showed through her fur, but her eyes showed no weakness. "Have nothing to say, apprentice?" she asked, eyes narrowed, "Before you snap back at a rogue who would kill you without blinking, learn to see through another cats eyes." At that, she turned, flicking her tail, and walked away. He composed himself, and called, "Hey! Come back!" He ran after her, but was surprised that she had completely disappeared, he thought, How could a she disappear so quickly? She is a light-pelted cat, even more light-pelted then I am. ''he flicked his tail uneasily, and turned to go back to camp. He looked down at the bird, the she-cats words rang in his ears, she had a come-back to everything he had threw at her, he didn't, it's only fair that even if he won his prey from her, she was the real winner of this fight. He picked up the bird, heading toward where the she-cat disappeared, he looked around, and mewed, "You win! This is your prey, I don't want it.. It's obvious you need it more then I do." He bowed his head, and backed away, looking up, and was surprised when she padded out, looking at him. There were no words shared, Flarepaw knew that she was grateful, she turned, and walked away with his prey, and he sighed, ''Guess I'm going hungry. ~*~*~ Flarepaw just flinched as Nightstar scolded him for not getting any prey, and he thought it better to lie, and say that his prey out-ran him... The ultimate shame. How wrong that version was... He didn't out-ran his prey, he had lost his prey to someone better then him, and this was no blind she-cat, this was a starving she-cat, nothing but bones. Who was really the monster of the forest? ''Flarepaw thought, ''Somehow.. I don't think it's the two-legs. After his scolding, he went without dinner, all the apprentices got dinner, talking about their days, but he couldn't tell them about his day, and he'd never be able too, he went against what the whole of Shadowclan stands for, that rogues were evil, and they were a danger to pure-blooded clan cats. But he shook his head, knowing what he did was right, it had to be right, that she-cat probably couldn't take on a whole clan, much less a tiny apprentice who was well-fed. Oh.... How wrong I was. Chapter 2 I was wrong... I learned that you can't judge someone By their outside. "Attack, Thunderclan!" Flarepaw jolted awake, he could still hear his stomach growling, but he was more worried why there was a sudden yowl. "We're being attacked! Get up Flarepaw!" Willowpaw yelled in his ear, and he groaned, almost rolling over to stand up. He gasped when he felt a heavy weight land on him, the intruders filled into the apprentices den, taking the apprentices by surprise. "Wah!" he heard one of the younger apprentices whimper as he was overtaken by two big warriors. Flarepaw fought of his attacker to help the young apprentice, bowling over the two warriors, standing in front of the shocked apprentice. The warriors payed Flarepaw no mind though, as they easily pushed him away, and pinned him down. Soon though, he got help from the other apprentices, and they were able to take over the two warriors, who ran out of the den, and into the camp. As Flarepaw and the other apprentices recovered from the initial shock, they ran out of the den, and were soon overtaken by battling cats. Nightstar called over the fray, "Hawkstar!? What is the meaning of this!?" he hissed, jumping away from the tom he was fighting with. Hawkstar, a big brown tom with piercing amber eyes called back from where he had Clawear, the deputy, pinned, "Nightstar, we all know that you want more territory, which means more prey, you Shadowclan warriors can't be trusted!" Nightstar seemed confused, "What in the name of Starclan are you talking about?!" he snapped back, "No Shadowclan warrior has hunted on your territory!" Hawkstar laughed, "Hah! Likely story! All of us could smell your Shadowclan stench!" Nightstar looked livid, "What are you talking about?!" he shouted at Hawkstar. "Don't play that game with me Nightstar!" Hawkstar snapped back, and looked down at Clawear, who was not fighting back, "Unless you want to see your deputy die at my paws." "You can't do that!" a cat called from the fighting Shadowclan cats, "It's against the warrior code!" Hawkstar twitched his whiskers, and growled, "But the leaders word is the law... Which means I can order it." Nightstar narrowed his eyes. "You wouldn't dare." he hissed. Hawkstar made his claws unsheathe more, causing Clawear to choke, and he laughed cruelly, "Watch me." Nightstar flicked his ear, and sniffed the air, looking at the den entrance. The locked cats parted, a tom around Flarepaw's age padded through them, dog claws unsheathed, his fur as black as coal, and his eyes the purest of blue. "Ember..." Nightstar murmured, going to meet him. One thing you should know about Ember... He may look ruthless, but he's not... He never was... Ember twitched his whiskers, meeting Nightstar's gaze, "You all woke me up with your howling, I think you even woke up some mice." he mewed. Hawkstar growled, "What are you doing here, Ember? Don't you usually stay near the two-leg place?" Ember licked his paw, unfazed by the question, but answered, "Eh.. I can travel where I want, Nightstar has allowed me to wander, but he has his limits, I know how important prey is these days." Hawkstar laughed, "Nightstar, I didn't know you resorted to kitty-pets to fight your own battles!" Nightstar looked at Ember cautiously, while Ember mewed with laugh, "I'm hardly a kittypet, Hawkstar, I'm as much as kittypet as you are." Hawkstar looked like he was about to pounce, but eyed his claws, and asked, "You think you're so tough? How about you take me on without your reinforcements?" Ember raised his paws, and looked at his claws. "These? Oh, they're nothing special, I don't use them for battle... more for persuasion." he took them off without a second thought, staring down Hawkstar. Nightstar nodded to his cats to back away, while Hawkstar let Clawfur up, who scrambled to stand beside Nightstar, he spat on the ground as he went. Hawkstar hissed to his cats, "Go back, let me face this kittypet alone." Hawkstar paced forward, but Ember made no move, it even looked like he wasn't even going to bother attacking. As Hawkstar lept, his big paws aimed for the small cats head. But Flarepaw gasped as Ember just seemed to drift to the side, as if battling was his second nature, and he scratched Hawkstars flank with his thorn sharp claws. Hawkstar let out a grunt of pain, and stood up. Whipping to face Ember, who sighed, "Really Hawkstar, you're making me bored, after all the tales I heard of warriors, I'd expect more of a challenge." Hawkstar hissed, and leaped in rage, at which Ember took advantage off, he rolled under Hawkstar, and thrust his claws in his belly, and caused Hawkstar to let out a cry, and land in the dust with a huff. Hawkstar backed into some of his warriors, and growled, "You think you've won kittypet, but you can't take on four cats." Flarepaw looked at Clawfur, who was starting to pace forward, but was stopped by Nightstar's tail, who shook his head. The four Thunderclan cats paced forward, teeth bared in a snarl. Ember yawned, "Really Hawkstar? You just raised the difficulty of this fight to what? Nothing?" he then taunted, "I can take on your whole clan!" Hawkstar then twitched his whiskers, "That's exactly what I wanted to hear." he mewed. Ember raised an eye-brow, but some of the Thunderclan cats hesitated, eyeing Ember with fear. But some Thunderclan cats padded forward, teeth bared into a snarl, Flarepaw watched with interest, No one can take on half a whole clan! The Thunderclan cats all pounced at once, but Ember rolled his eyes, and ducked under the attacking cats, and they all collided with each-other, letting out whimpers of pain. The Thunderclan cats looked at Ember, and backed away when he padded up to them, Flarepaw was amazed at Embers fighting skills. Hawkstar growled, "You may have to hide behind a kittypet to fight your battles, but I won't give up so easily, you will pay for stealing our prey." Ember's eyes flashed as he jumped at Hawkstar scratching his eye and Hawkstar cried in pain. Ember yawned, "All right, Hawkstar, let's see how you do it with sight in one eye." Hawkstar grumbled, and called to his warriors, "Retreat Thunderclan!" They all ran, some with their tails high in the air in fright. Nightstar padded up to Ember, and mewed quietly, "Thanks for your help Ember, I had no idea what he was talking about." Ember shrugged, putting his dog claws back on, and mewed, "I could have done a lot more a damage with these on, he should feel lucky." Nightstar twitched his whiskers, "Yes, you could have.. That was a very smart move you did with the claws." he mewed. Ember mewed, "Thanks Nightstar, but I must be going back now." he bowed in respect, waving his tail to the cats that were watching in shock and awe. Flarepaw asked Clawear, "Who was that?" Clawear looked down at him, "That was Ember, he leads a small group of alley cats in the near-by two-leg place. Never get into a fight with them, that's all I can say." he muttered, licking his paw, and putting it over his ear. After what Flarepaw just saw, and if he could do that much damage with just his claws, he'd hate to see what he could possibly do with the dog claws. He shivered at the thought, never wanting to face Ember in battle, those claws look like they could tear a cat apart, and maybe they have before. Flarepaw shook his head, and asked Willowpaw, "Is everyone okay?" Willowpaw nodded, her ear was bleeding, and so was her flank. But she mewed, "Yeah, the medicine cat is coming around now." Flarepaw mewed, "All right, I don't have that bad of scratches, I'm going to go hunt for the queens and kits, they look pretty shaken up." he indicated to the nursery, where kits where crying. "Good idea, Flarepaw, and remember to actually bring prey back this time?" Nightstar hissed in disappointment, and Flarepaw nodded. Willowpaw mewed, "I'd come with you, but I have some serious sore scratches, I'll catch up with you later Flarepaw." Flarepaw nodded, and was about to run off, but one of the warriors, Rainpetal, called him back, "Flarepaw, remember to be careful, it's fox season." Flarepaw nodded, "I will!" he called back, and bounded out. He sniffed the air, making sure there was no rogue scent in the air, before continuing forth. He perked his ears when he smelled bird, it was unusual for birds to nest in the shadowy pine forest, but not impossible. He followed the bird to a quiet grove, and he leaped, killing it quickly. He sniffed the air, annoyed that the preys fresh scent was blocking his sense of smell with it's tasty goodness, but he put it down, and sniffed again. "You need to learn to concentrate your sense, and not let prey block your smell." a voice mewed, across from him. The snowy she-cat padded out again, flicking her tail in amusement. Flarepaw grunted, "You again? You're not here to take my prey are you?" "You caught it first, so no, but I am here to hunt." she muttered. Flarepaw narrowed his eyes, "Hunt what?" he asked carefully. "What else mouse-brain? Food, of course." she mewed, and rolled her eyes, she sniffed the air, padding past him, then leaped just as a squirrel flew out of the bush. Flarepaw jumped, and sighed, "Hey! That's not-" but didn't bother, so he just sniffed the air. Category:Fanfiction Category:Birdpaw's Fanfictions